When plan advisers ask sponsor clients for their feed- back, this can call forth compliments that vali- date an advisory firm’s service model and working
style. But sometimes sponsors give negative feedback about
an advisory firm’s services. Daniel Peluse has learned to
welcome not just sponsors’ compliments, but their occasional criticisms, too.

“Be open to that critique, and understand that every
client’s needs are different,” recommends Peluse, director
of retirement plan services at Wintrust Wealth Management in Chicago. “We struggled with that early on. We
thought, ‘Here is our service model, and if it doesn’t work
for a sponsor, there isn’t much flexibility.’ But we’ve learned
since then to adapt our service model to a client’s needs. We
want critiques from our clients: That’s how we’ve improved
our service model over the years.”

Strengthening Relationships Informally

Peluse utilizes quarterly meetings as an informal check-in point with sponsors, to discuss their satisfaction with
Wintrust’s services. “We ask, ‘What’s working? And what
isn’t?’” he says.

Wintrust also gets valuable feedback from sponsors by
asking them to refer possible new sponsor clients. “We typically start that conversation by giving a little background
on the potential client we are looking to work with,” Peluse

practice managementKeeping Them HappyTips for how to retain sponsors’ business

Art by David Huang

says. “Then we say, ‘We think that we do this—whether it’sfinancial wellness education or something else—really wellfor you. Would you feel comfortable talking to this potentialclient about the work we’ve done with you?’ Once the clientagrees, then we can dive deeper into where we add the mostvalue on that service.”Every time Hilb Group Retirement Services (formerlyCornerstone Retirement Advisors) sees clients, “We say,‘Hey, is there anything else we can do to help you?’” saysJim Sampson, director, retirement advisory services, in theWarwick, Rhode Island office. Sometimes that uncoversopportunities for the adviser to solve problems, such as arecent issue with a recordkeeper, which a sponsor clientspent time, trying to resolve. “We said, ‘Why didn’t you justcall us? That’s what we do,’” he says. “We tell them, ‘Call usfor everything. Even if you think it’s a dumb question, callus.’”Checking in informally with sponsor clients also hasgiven Sampson opportunities to ensure they recognizethe services being offered and take advantage of them. Herecently spoke with one who mentioned that a provider hadoffered to come on-site and do an employee financial well-ness program for a fee. “The sponsor asked, ‘Is that some-thing that’s worthwhile for us to purchase?’” he recalls. “Isaid, ‘No, because we do that, too, and it’s included in ourfee. You’re already paying us for that.’ The response from